Design, construction, and deployment of an affordable and long-lasting moored deep-water fish aggregation device

ABSTRACTFish aggregation devices (FADs) are used worldwide to enhance the efficiency of various fisheries. Devices usually consist of a floating or subsurface component designed to exploit natural fish behavior, using species’ attraction to structure (e.g. Sargassum spp.) to aggregate fish and increase capture success in open ocean environments. Concerns have arisen regarding the scale and management of FAD-associated fisheries, however, the efficiency of FADs to accumulate fish species also introduces the possibility for FADs to be used as conservation tools to study pelagic species ecology. Building on two successful and several failed deployments of anchored deep-water (>500 m) subsurface (10 m) FADs over three years in The Bahamas, and observations from the subsequent FAD monitoring program, the objectives of the paper are to: 1) provide details and considerations for the design, construction and deployment of an affordable and durable deep-water subsurface FAD that can be deployed using small boats; and 2) highlight the potential for a long-lasting moored FAD to be used as a sustainable and reliable scientific platform for pelagic species research and conservation, lending specifically to several research applications. This information will be useful for assessing the impacts that FADs and other anthropogenic marine infrastructure have on wild marine species, and their efficacy for conserving pelagic fish through increased encounters for study.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Effects of handling and storage methods on the concentrations of elements in deep-water fish otoliths.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1061866.513810 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

Robyn Hannigan

Keyword(s):

Deep Water ◽

Water Fish ◽

Storage Methods ◽

And Storage ◽

Fish Otoliths

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Latest Permian deep-water ostracods from southwestern Guangxi, South China

Journal of Micropalaeontology ◽

10.1144/jm.26.2.169 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 169-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Aihua Yuan ◽

Sylvie Crasquin-Soleau ◽

Qinglai Feng ◽

Songzhu Gu

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

South China ◽

Deep Water ◽

World Wide ◽

Pelagic Species ◽

Two New Species ◽

First World

Abstract. A very diverse ostracod fauna was discovered in the latest Permian strata of the Dongpan section, southwestern Guangxi, South China. Fifty-one species belonging to twenty-eight genera were identified and described, including two new species (Bairdia dongpanensis n. sp. and Spinomicrocheilinella anterocompressa n. sp). This type of assemblage, with nineteen palaeopsychrospheric species and four pelagic species, is the first world-wide deep-water ostracod fauna reported from the latest Permian strata and the first one recorded in the Permian of China. The palaeoenvironmental analysis allows one to propose an evaluation of the bathymetry variation along the Dongpan section.

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Bioaccumulation of mercury and transcriptional responses in tusk (Brosme brosme), a deep-water fish from a Norwegian fjord

Chemosphere ◽

10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130588 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 130588

Author(s):

Pål A. Olsvik ◽

Atabak M. Azad ◽

Fekadu Yadetie

Keyword(s):

Deep Water ◽

Transcriptional Responses ◽

Water Fish ◽

Norwegian Fjord

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An experimental assessment of social tolerance and den ecology in a high-density octopus population

Marine Biology ◽

10.1007/s00227-021-03865-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 168 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Duncan A. O’Brien ◽

Michelle L. Taylor ◽

Heather D. Masonjones ◽

Philipp H. Boersch-Supan ◽

Owen R. O’Shea

Keyword(s):

Deep Sea ◽

Marine Species ◽

High Density ◽

Behavioural Plasticity ◽

High Population Density ◽

Social Tolerance ◽

Potential Prey ◽

The Bahamas ◽

The Social ◽

Den Use

AbstractLong held notions of the universally asocial octopus are being challenged due to the identification of high-density and interacting octopus populations in Australia, Indonesia, Japan and the deep sea. This study experimentally assessed the social tolerance and presence of potential prey items of Caribbean reef octopus, Octopus briareus, in a tropical marine lake (25°21′40″N, 76°30′40″W) on the island of Eleuthera, The Bahamas, by deploying artificial dens in multi-den groups or ‘units’ in the months of May and June 2019. Fifteen octopus were observed occupying dens (n = 100), resulting in 13 den units being occupied (n = 40). Two examples of adjacent occupation within a single den unit were identified but with zero examples of cohabitation/den sharing. Ecological models showed den and den unit occupation was predicted to increase with depth and differ between sites. Octopus also displayed no preference for isolated or communal units but preferred isolated dens over dens adjacent to others. Additionally, 47 % of occupied dens contained bivalve or crustacean items with no epifauna on their interior surface. The lack of epifauna suggests that these items have been recently ‘cleaned’ by occupying octopus and so represent likely prey. This study presents evidence of possible antisocial den use by O. briareus, a modification of the default ‘asocial’ ignoring of conspecifics typically attributed to octopus. This is likely in response to the high population density and may imply behavioural plasticity, making this system appropriate for further scrutiny as a research location on the influence of large, insular environments on marine species.

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Zeiform mouthbrooding in the deepsea – dispelling a myth

10.31219/osf.io/rhk29 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ralf ◽

G. David Johnson ◽

Kevin Conway

Keyword(s):

Deep Water ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Extended Period ◽

Marine Fishes ◽

Early Developmental Stages ◽

Water Fish ◽

First Time ◽

Early Developmental ◽

Deep Sea Fauna

Mouthbrooding or oral incubation, the retention of early developmental stages inside of the mouth for an extended period of time, has evolved multiple times in bony fishes1,2. Though uncommon, this form of parental care has been documented and well-studied in several groups of freshwater fishes but is also known to occur in a small number of marine fishes, all inhabiting coastal waters1,2. A recent paper3, reported for the first time mouthbrooding in a deep-water fish species, the zeiform Parazen pacificus, which according to the authors “fills in a gap in the larval literature for this family of fishes and prompts further investigation into other novel reproductive modes of deep-sea fauna.”

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Structure over Time of an Exploited Deep-Water Fish Assemblage

Deep-Water Fisheries of the North Atlantic Oceanic Slope ◽

10.1007/978-94-015-8414-2_2 ◽

1995 ◽

pp. 27-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Richard L. Haedrich

Keyword(s):

Deep Water ◽

Fish Assemblage ◽

Water Fish ◽

Over Time

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Biosecurity risks posed by a large sea-going passenger vessel: challenges of terrestrial arthropod species detection and eradication

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-55554-4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Simon J. McKirdy ◽

Simon O’Connor ◽

Melissa L. Thomas ◽

Kristin L. Horton ◽

Angus Williams ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Monitoring Program ◽

Marine Species ◽

Indigenous Species ◽

Terrestrial Arthropods ◽

Arthropod Species ◽

Detailed List ◽

The Baltic ◽

Passenger Vessel ◽

Non Indigenous Species ◽

Large Vessels

AbstractLarge sea-going passenger vessels can pose a high biosecurity risk. The risk posed by marine species is well documented, but rarely the risk posed by terrestrial arthropods. We conducted the longest running, most extensive monitoring program of terrestrial arthropods undertaken on board a passenger vessel. Surveillance was conducted over a 19-month period on a large passenger (cruise) vessel that originated in the Baltic Sea (Estonia). The vessel was used as an accommodation facility to house workers at Barrow Island (Australia) for 15 months, during which 73,061 terrestrial arthropods (222 species - four non-indigenous (NIS) to Australia) were collected and identified on board. Detection of Tribolium destructor Uytt., a high-risk NIS to Australia, triggered an eradication effort on the vessel. This effort totalled more than 13,700 human hours and included strict biosecurity protocols to ensure that this and other non-indigenous species (NIS) were not spread from the vessel to Barrow Island or mainland Australia. Our data demonstrate that despite the difficulties of biosecurity on large vessels, stringent protocols can stop NIS spreading from vessels, even where vessel-wide eradication is not possible. We highlight the difficulties associated with detecting and eradicating NIS on large vessels and provide the first detailed list of species that inhabit a vessel of this kind.

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